HAWAII - Day 6

This day was another one of our favorite days in Hawaii because we took the plunge and woke up at 2:30 AM to get in the car by 3 to drive up to Haleakala to watch the sunset. It was about an hour and a half to two hour drive up a VERY windy road. It is crazy because you climb from sea level to 10,023 feet. You are above all the clouds over the whole island, and that just make the sunset that more beautiful.

We had heard that it was cold up top, which makes sense with no sun and a high elevation, but what we didn't expect was how FREEZING cold it really would be. James didn't bring any long pants so he was in shorts and a t-shirt. Luckily Mike had a coat and Kelly & Christina had just bough Maui sweatshirts earlier that week. We just wrapped ourselves in whatever towel or blankets we could find and huddled close while we waited for the sun to make its appearance.

The sun seemed to take forever to appear and then it rose fairly quickly. Here are some of our shots to try and capture the growth.

The drive was so worth it because you were able to see the island in a whole different light and point of view. Mike was a trooper for driving through it all after driving to Hana yesterday. We also learned that there were some plants that only grew at the top where we were. It was such an early morning but worth the experience and the cold. We drove home, got a bite at BK, and then went back to the condo and crashed for another 4 hours.



That night our big plan was the luau at the Hyatt. This luau costs like $95 per person, but if you go to Hawaii you have to go to a luau, and this one was really fun. We got there early so that we could get a good seat, and while Kelly & James waited in line we took a walk down the beach and admire the resort.



The stark contrast and variety of vegetation in Hawaii always amazed us and we loved to capture the beauty on picture to remember all the curious and beautiful plants and flowers. The beach was beautiful and it felt good to put our feet in. We have truly been blessed to be able to go on this trip and do so with our good friends Kelly & James. We have had a fantastic time! We tried to capture the whole footprint in the sand thing, but the waves kept coming up and washing them away.

We felt like we were gone a long time, but they hadn't started letting anyone in yet so we captured a few more photos together. Our husbands are the best sports because we bought them these matching t-shirts from the ABC Store and they were sweet enough to wear them out in public together. :) (Did you noticed we matched again? It was our little joke for the week.)




Finally the doors opened and they let us come in. The greeted us with seashell necklaces and drinks, and we were sure to order all the other virgin drinks they made, like a shirley temple. :) We got strange looks and even some colder service due to our lack of alcohol consumption. Besides the drinks, there was a roasted pig that they brought out of this pit and then there were just a variety of different dishes on the buffet tables. Honestly it wasn't necessarily the best food we had, but it was different and pretty tasty.
The show consisted of lots of different types of dances from all the surrounding islands, as well as a teaching lesson on how to do hula, which we decided to go up and make a fool of ourselves for. The best part was of course the end with the fire dancing, flame throwing dude. He was amazing, and made the whole rest of the slightly too-long dances worth every minute.